The Right to Vote (book review)

Alexander Keysar’s The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States should be required reading for every voter in America, and certainly for every civics and social studies teacher. Keysar unveils the little-known history of both the expansion and contraction of voting rights in the United States.

For example, in some colonial-era Massachusetts and New York towns, propertied widows could vote (p. 6). Women in New Jersey could vote until 1807 (p. 54), and some Michigan women could vote in school elections in 1855 (p. 399). This was all long before the passage of the XIX Amendment in 1920.

Keysar documents the see-saw nature of voting rights in America, and how uniquely place-specific the right to vote was determined. In some states, only property owners could vote. In others, only taxpayers (which could include widows and single women) were eligible. As the U.S. population grew and expanded westward, forming new states and territories, state constitutions laid out the criteria. A person could be a resident of one state and not be able to vote; they could move to another state, and find that they were eligible. The opposite could happen as well.

Race was often used as an explicit qualification for voting eligibility; or to the contrary, it could be used to deny voting rights. Frequently, laws or state constitutions might specify that only “white” men or persons could vote, while other states (like New Jersey, above) might mention “inhabitants” thus adding leeway for a broader interpretation. In some locales, there was confusion about the eligibility of Native Americans to vote. Were they to be considered “white”? What if they had begun to be assimilated into white culture, and owned property and paid taxes? Would they be eligible to vote, then? Such matters sometimes sparked fierce debates on the state house floor.

And what about free Blacks? In Tennessee free Black men had the right to vote until a new constitution was written in 1834. [Oddly, the summary posted at the Secretary of State‘s office fails to mention this important change in the law.] Keyssar finds that Black access to the ballot steadily declined from 1790 to 1850. While states such as New York and Connecticut granted Black men the vote shortly after American independence, by 1820, those rights had been taken away, and they were steadily eroded elsewhere. Notably, as late as 1855, just a few years before the Civil War, five Northern states still permitted Black men to vote (p. 55). It would not be until the passage of the XV Amendment that Black men throughout the United States gained the legal right to vote, but it would take almost a century for them to vote without violence or intimidation in the South.

These are just some of the stories Keyssar tells in his book. He also looks at age, wealth and economic status, labor unions, political views, citizenship, immigration status, military service, language, religion, race, and ethnicity. He traces the history of absentee ballots, the right of citizens to petition the government, and more.

It’s so easy for us today to think that the majority of Americans enjoy the right to vote. But it hasn’t always been that way, and as recent elections have shown, new qualifications and impediments to expand and restrict the franchise are still being debated and instituted today.

COVID-19 and our future

We don’t know what the future holds, but we can begin to plan it now. This is the time for us to think about what we want our world to look like when COVID-19 has become history. Our society is already being transformed by this crisis. Here’s how we can seize this moment as an opportunity for positive change.

A GREEN NEW DEAL

FDR got America back to work during the Great Depression with the New Deal. With millions out of work, and undoubtedly  more to come, we can give workers the skills and training they need to work in one of the most promising growth fields in our country – Green Power. American factories can be retooled to produce solar panels, greener vehicles, and all of the supporting manufacturing behind components for these and other energy initiatives. Federal support, vision and initiative will be key to making this transformation.

INFRASTRUCTURE UPKEEP

Growth in Green Power also requires that America’s infrastructure – so long neglected – receive urgent attention. Parts, panels, and other outputs of a green economy will still require safe and effective road, rail, waterway, and utility networks. Aging water pipes and treatment plants, failing bridges, and neglected dams all need to receive priority attention. Putting Americans back to work on these urgently needed projects can get our economy going again, and aid us all by making our transportation and utility systems ready for the 21st century.

INTERNET AS A UTILITY

Continuing public education during the pandemic was stymied by the lack of internet access by many of its students. As thousands of teachers and other adults working from home discovered, home internet bandwidth is often insufficient for simultaneous needs of the entire family.

The pandemic made it necessary for all to have access to telehealth, online banking, and online shopping tools, as well as access to computers to file unemployment or other forms of aid. Those without access to these tools found themselves delaying seeking medical assistance, unable to pay bills, and unable to file for critically needed unemployment benefits.

If everyone had equal access to the internet at speeds which would support such activities, many in our nation might still be able to work, have their children engaged in school, and provide for their families, even if only by filing for government aid.

WORKING FROM HOME

Industries and governments that never thought they would have need for remote worksites or telecommuting found that was the only way they could continue business operations during the prolonged closures of the pandemic. Meetings took place via Zoom, cloud computing became imperative, and thousands learned new online collaborative tools.

One of the real-world benefits of the mass work-from-home effort included deserted roadways. Overnight, traffic congestion and hour-long daily commutes vanished. In about a month, emissions in much of the continental United States decreased by around twenty percent. With this kind of immediate improvement in emissions, imagine what could be possible if most Americans continued to work from home on a regular basis. The coronavirus epidemic could mark the beginning of a sudden, active, and impactful way for us to begin to turn the corner on climate change.

A LIVING WAGE

More than one worker pointed out the irony of being deemed part of the “essential” workforce, while making minimum wage. Those individuals working in non-medical fields but who were nevertheless dubbed “front-line workers” during the crisis included custodians, clerks, fast-food workers, delivery drivers, and grocery store employees. Their “essential” jobs also put them at greater risk for contracting and spreading the virus. One dedicated grocery store worker, Leilani Jordan, of Largo, Maryland, died at age 27 after contracting the virus. She resisted her mother’s pleas to stop working, insisting that her work was an urgent imperative to help others in her community, especially the elderly and disabled. Surely these workers who have provided needed services to us all, and are working in the one area of our economy that has remained open for business, have proven that they deserve a better wage for the important services they provide.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Perhaps no other need is as obvious as universal health care. Early in the pandemic, some Americans did not seek testing or treatment, because they had no insurance, or faced expensive deductibles or co-pays. In fact, many had financial incentives to both remain sick – and remain at work, a risk to themselves and others. Universal health care could have aided in a quick response to the pandemic, and would support health rather than profiting off of illness like our current system of private insurance, which creates financial incentives to encourage and delay treatment. The best way for us to position ourselves as a nation to respond to the next public health crisis is to ensure that all Americans have easy and affordable access to quality health care at every stage of their lives.

ELIMINATING HEALTH DISPARITIES

As the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths grew, an alarming trend became apparent: African Americans were more likely to die from COVID-19 than their white counterparts. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although blacks make up 26% of the city’s population, 81% of the COVID-19 deaths were among African Americans. Milwaukee, unlike other cities, had already explicitly called-out and identified racism as a public health risk in 2019, and they took the initiative in documenting coronavirus cases by race, something that remains missing from the national numbers.

VOTING REFORM

The recent debacle in Wisconsin – where citizens literally risked their lives to vote, with the blessing and encouragement of the United States Supreme Court – points out the urgent necessity to modernize our elections. We must seize this moment to broaden the electorate and eliminate the increased barriers to voting that have been erected in recent years. In the midst of a pandemic, legitimate alternative methods of voting must be implemented, protected, and welcomed. Most states have such measures already in place, but options such as voting by mail, paper ballots, and absentee ballots are held in disfavor. No one’s vote should go uncounted, just because the method by which it is cast is inconvenient for the state. Full participation by all eligible voters is the foundation of our democracy.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Planning and preparing for a disaster is never a popular subject, and it is easy to defer action. “We’ll get to it later;” “we can’t afford it right now;” “it’s not urgent at this time” are common refrains. COVID-19 shows that the time to prepare for a disaster is before one happens. Planning is critical. Granted, the scale of COVID-19 is unprecedented in our lifetimes – but effective planning – from medical stockpiles to response – is critical to enabling a swift and nimble response to a national crisis.

FUND WHO, NIH, CDC

Likewise, consistently, reliably, and responsibly funding national and international health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) should never be questioned. Understaffing, underfunding, and undersupply have the capacity to create a crisis where there is none – and will have catastrophic consequences when there is an urgent, sudden need demanding immediate action.

A GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS

The mechanisms of the Federal government exist to serve the people, not the politicians. The so-called safety net will be strained, and likely broken. Government will find it necessary to shed employees just like other sectors of the economy – just when its services are most needed. The long wait times for unemployment, for instance, will only get worse, and government employees are needed to make the system work. Shrinking the government at this time is like asking a starving man to cinch up his belt while asking him win a weightlifting competition. This is no time to cut back; there is heavy lifting ahead. Government aid programs will be needed by our citizenry more than ever, and we need to support these programs with finances and personnel.

MAKE AMERICA KIND AGAIN

The politicians in Washington, DC may not have recognized this yet, but many Americans have. Ordinary Americans are finding new ways to connect, support each other, and find hope, laughter and joy in the midst of this pandemic. All of us have learned in new ways that we are all connected, and we are all in this together. COVID-19 doesn’t care about my patriotism or my political party. It doesn’t care if I’m liberal or conservative, immigrant or native-born. There is a deep recognition that we all must come together to do our part, and it is only through togetherness – our shared responsibility and commitment to each other as friends, neighbors, and community members – that we can keep each other safe, encouraged, and comforted.

LOOKING BACK, FROM THE FUTURE

To be sure, these are “uncertain times.” COVID-19 has brought disruption to every aspect of our lives. Daily life has already become vastly different than what it was only a few months ago. Undoubtedly this is a transformative moment in our history. Moving forward, we can choose what the future looks like. Let’s choose wisely, and make this world, our country, and our communities better places for all who call it home.

Reading List – History, Memory, Narrative, War

I’ve accumulated quite a number of books that I need to read or review in the wake of the summer 2017 Columbia Oral History Institute. It will probably keep me occupied till the end of the year. Even before the institute, I was thinking quite a bit about interdisciplinarity, and how that relates to oral history, public history, and aging. The concept of interdisciplinarity was only further reinforced during the institute. I think this list reflects that.

A few of the titles appearing below I have read, but many of them I have not. So these are not necessarily recommendations as much as they are simply a “to read” list. Outside of the thematic groupings, there is no order to the list.

Please feel free to add more suggestions or comment on any of the books that you have read in the “Comments” field at the end of this post.

Note: Links to Amazon appear through their Affiliate Program, in which I receive a few cents from any purchases made through the Amazon website. Links here are provided primarily for convenience, as a way to read reviews, view table of contents and use many of the other functions available through Amazon. Some publications are out of print; these links are directed to Worldcat, where you can see if your local or nearby library has a copy.

Historiography & Memory

Robert Eric Frykenberg. History and Belief: The Foundations of Historical Understanding. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996).

Joan Tumblety, ed. Memory and History: Understanding Memory as Source and Subject. (London: Routledge, 2013).

Charles Fernyhough. Pieces of Light: How the New Science of Memory Illuminates the Stories We Tell about Our Pasts. (NY: Harper Collins, 2012).

 

Writing and Memoir

Stephen J. Lepore and Joshua M. Smyth. The Writing Cure: How Expressive Writing Promotes Health and Emotional Well-Being. (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2002).

Mary Karr. The Art of Memoir. (NY: Harper Perennial, 2015).

Rebecca Solnit. The Far Away Nearby. (NY: Penguin, 2013).

Rebecca Solnit. A Field Guide to Getting Lost. (NY: Viking, 2005).

Louise DeSalvo. Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1999).

Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson. Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives. 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2010).

Sven Birkerts. The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again. (St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 2008). [and probably other titles in the Art Of series ed. by Charles Baxter.]

 

Literature, Literary Theory, and Narrative

H. Porter Abbott. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2d ed. (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008).

Daniel Taylor. The Healing Power of Stories: Creating Yourself through the Stories of Your Life. (NY: Doubleday, 1996). Republished in paperback as: Tell Me A Story (Bog Walk Press, 2001).

Arthur W. Frank. Letting Stories Breathe: A Socio-Narratology. (Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 2010). This is by the author of

Richard Stone. The Healing Art of Storytelling: A Sacred Journey of Personal Discovery. (NY: Hyperion, 1996).

Seymour Chatman. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. (Cornell Univ. Press, 1980).

Jean Aitchison. Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. 4th ed. (West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).

T. S. Eliot Four Quartets. (Various publishers)

William Faulkner. Absalom, Absalom. (Various publishers)

 

Veterans, War, PTSD, and Trauma

Edward Tick. War and the Soul: Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2005).

Patience H.C. Mason. Recovering from the War: A Guide for All Veterans, Family Members, Friends and Therapists. (High Springs, Fla.: Patience Press, 1998). Now rather dated, but still useful content, with many excerpts of an oral history nature from Vietnam veterans.

Tian Dayton. Trauma and Addiction: Ending the Cycle of Pain through Emotional Literacy. (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 2000).

Jonathan Shay. Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character. (NY: Scribner, 2003).

Jonathan Shay. Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. (NY: Scribner, 2002).

Tim O’Brien. The Things They Carried. (Various publishers.) A work of fiction, but relevant for insights about narrative, memory, and trauma. See particularly the chapter, “How to Tell a True War Story.”

Barbara Sommer. Doing Veterans Oral History. (Oral History Association, 2015).

Donald H. Whitfield, ed. Standing Down: From Warrior to Civilian. (Chicago: Great Books Foundation, 2013).

Cathy Caruth. Listening to Trauma: Conversations with Leaders in the Theory and Treatment of Catastrophic Experience. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2014).

Victor Frankl. Man’s Search for Meaning. (Various publishers).

J. Martin Daughtry. Listening to War: Sound, Trauma, Music and Survival in Wartime Iraq. (Oxford University Press, 2015).

 

Family History and Family Stories

Karen Branan. The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, A Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth. (NY: Atria Books, 2016).

Thulani Davis. My Confederate Kinfolk: A Twenty-first Century Freedwoman Discovers Her Roots. (NY: Basic Books, 2006).

James Carl Nelson. The Remains of Company D: A Story of the Great War. (NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2009).

 

Still to come:

Reading List on Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Caregiving

Columbia Oral History Institute – 2017

I had the immense honor and opportunity to attend the recent Columbia Oral History Institute, where Fellows from around the globe gathered to explore and discuss the topic of: Oral History and Aging: Transmitting Life Stories of Being and Becoming Across Cultures and Generations. It was an outstanding lineup of faculty, as well as a diverse group attendees. It was two weeks of intense study, lecture, and discussion, with a wealth of readings and other sources. I still haven’t processed it all. It’s going to take some time to go through my notes, continue the readings, and thoughtfully consider many of the questions that were raised. However, as I’ve done before when I’ve attended major professional conferences and events, and have lacked the time to produce fully developed posts, I thought I’d start with this Wordle of key concepts and issues that were raised for me at the Summer Institute. I hope to write more about some of these topics in the coming weeks.

 

History Day – and why it matters

It’s spring – and that means across the country thousands of teens are putting the final touches on their National History Day presentations.

What is History Day?

National History Day is an exciting opportunity for middle and high school students to engage with the past. They develop their own topics around a broad theme that changes each year. The 2016 theme is: “Exploration, Encounter, Exchange.” Students conduct their own research, with heavy emphasis on the use of primary sources. They analyze and interpret their findings, and their work culminates in a final project in one of the following forms: research paper, documentary video, dramatic performance, museum-type exhibit, or website. Depending on the category, students can work alone or in small groups. Students compete with others in their same general age range or grade level.

Ten Reasons History Day Rocks!

  1. It’s fun!  – Students bring and generate energy and enthusiasm for their topics, the research process, and the final outcome.
  2. It’s self-directed – Students select their own topics, and choose how to connect their subject to the contest theme.
  3. It’s challenging – Students learn to ask hard questions of sources, their teachers, and each other.
  4. It’s social – Students meet others with similar interests, learn from each other, and encourage one another.
  5. It’s inspiring – Students have a knack for finding interesting stories and presenting them in intriguing, creative, and thought-provoking ways.
  6. It’s engaging – History Day goes beyond rote dates and “facts” found in dry textbooks – and makes the past come alive. Suddenly, history is exciting again!
  7. It improves skills – Overall skills in research, critical thinking, and writing improve across all of a student’s work – not just in history class.  Technical skills such as set design, costuming, videography, web design, and others also find expression and development through History Day projects. Self-confidence grows, as does intellectual curiosity, teamwork, and social skills.
  8. Quality is rewarded – As students advance further in the contest, they find they must constantly revise and improve their work as the competition stiffens. This teaches ongoing critical thinking skills, editing, and objective assessment of their own work.
  9. There’s prizes! -Students compete at school, local, regional and state levels, before advancing to the National finals. At various levels, but particularly at the state and national levels, students may win special awards, often cash, sponsored by History Day alumni, corporate sponsors, or professional organizations; or gain other forms of recognition. Of course, the best prize of all is to advance to the next level of competition.
  10. And even scholarships! – The University of Maryland at College Park, Case Western Reserve University, and Chaminade University of Honolulu all offer scholarship prizes.
    And let me add Reason #11 — just for teachers!
  11. Teachers can win, too! – A few special prizes are awarded to teachers who exhibit leadership and encouragement to their students.

How You Can Get Involved

State and regional competitions are underway now! Contact your state coordinator and learn how you can volunteer, serve as a judge, or provide other support.

Some students may be in need of financial assistance, particularly if they advance to the national competition in Maryland in June. National History Day does not provide financial support, so most families must foot the bill themselves. Watch for students in your area to hold fundraisers or online campaigns, and contribute generously. NHD also accepts donations to aid in its operations and to get more classrooms and teachers involved in the contest.

Archives Month 2015

Interested in archives, but don’t know where to begin? Are you a family historian who has found limitations to online sources and want to delve deeper? Take a look at these guest posts at the blog on Ancestry.com:

4 Things to Know Before You Visit an Archive – Want to visit an archive, but don’t know what to expect? Read this post to learn more.

Archives Month: Searching by Context – Too often, researchers are too specific when they begin their search. Learn how using a contextual approach can aid your research.

Archives Month: Anatomy of a Finding Aid – What is a finding aid, how do I read one, and how can it help me?

Memorial Day: Remembering Oscar Pinney

Today, I briefly visited Stones River National Battlefield, and while in Murfreesboro, also paid a visit to the Healing Field. Sponsored by the Exchange Club, the field is full of probably 200+ flags. It was a windy day, and they were all highly visible. People can “sponsor” a flag, and dedicate it to someone in the military. It was a moving tribute, and as I walked among the flags and noted some of those that were being honored, I felt as if I were among ghosts. All of those who had Gone Before. From all of America’s wars. Even some of them, only a few years ago.

FieldFlagsRow

I thought about who I might honor. Corydon Heath, whom I came to know through the story of Milliken’s Bend, and George Conn, another officer who died with Heath, were first to mind. But then, there was absolutely no local connection to Stones River or Murfreesboro at all. It didn’t seem appropriate.

So I thought, “Who do I ‘know’ from Stones River?” And I thought immediately of Capt. Oscar Pinney, of the 5th Wisconsin Battery. I learned of his story probably 20 years ago. And I remember reading his letters. And his last (extant) letter home, written a few days before Christmas – where he tells his wife that he just received a furlough – “to start tomorrow morning” – only to inform her that it has been countermanded.

Detail of Stones River battlefield, 9am, showing Confederate onslaught. Map drawn by Ed Bearss, National Park Service

Detail of Stones River battlefield, 9am, showing Confederate onslaught. Map drawn by Ed Bearss, National Park Service

Pinney’s battery was engulfed in the early morning of Dec. 31, 1862, in the opening hours of the battle. Posted on the far Union right, and firing canister, they were nevertheless overpowered and had to withdraw their guns. Pinney was shot, and his cannoneers were forced to leave him behind. After the battle, and when the Confederates had left the field, he was still alive, but died on February 17, 1863. Several of his comrades are buried at Stones River, but Pinney’s body was sent home.

This Memorial Day, please remember his family’s sacrifice, and those of so many, many others. They did not die that you might eat more hot dogs or have an extra day off work or shop at sale. They died that we might become a stronger, more secure nation. They died because they were willing to make sacrifices that many of us are not. They died to ensure our freedom, that we so often take for granted.

HonorOIF

These men died too. Honor their sacrifice, say a prayer for their families, and shake a vets’ hand who made it back. Thank you. We are forever in your debt.

More about Oscar Pinney and the 5th Wisconsin Battery at Stones River:

Read his last letter (page 19)

A memoir by Charles C. Cunningham

More resources about Wisconsin units, including the 5th Battery, at Stones River.

Vets today:

Help those who’ve come home: Wounded Warrior Project